Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Early Access Review

I have now spent 100+ hours with Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen early access and can confirm from my initial impression that Visionary Realms has succeeded in recreating the feel of classic MMOs like the original EverQuest at release in a base form. Interacting with the community has been enjoyable most of the time, while the basic gameplay loop feels great as someone looking to have a classic MMORPG experience, and the slow character advancement feels rewarding. Make sure to check out my Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Review-in-Progress for more details in these areas. 

But even with all the current content offered by this Alpha build of the game, the more I play, the more I acutely notice what's missing and how it would drastically improve the experience if implemented well. Beyond the core systems, such as Skill Mastery and Perceptions, many other elements would go a long way in creating more fun and unique experiences for players.

For example, let's start with something simple, like the three missing races. The Archai, Gnomes, and Skar have interesting backgrounds and unique elements in the setting of Terminus. There is also a great opportunity for each of the missing races to showcase the art style. Including them and their starting areas at early access launch would have been great. However, due to the small development team, I can understand why they were not included in, what is, an Alpha state.

Server Performance

The server performance has improved drastically since my Review in Progress last month. The hitching of character models while the server is under load is mostly gone, and running around the different zones feels much smoother. While there has been a day here and there where a server shard needed to be reset, it has mostly been a great experience on the performance side.I have not experienced server performance this good for an early-access MMORPG release in a long time; I have also not had the game crash or freeze once since my last article. The team has also been responsive on the official Discord server over the holidays, responding to player concerns, bugs, and issues. They even put out a small patch on Boxing Day.

That being said, each server shard only supports a maximum population of 500 players, if I am not mistaken, due to the limited amount of content currently available for players to explore and play in. Once more zones are rolled out and the population per server is allowed to increase, I will be curious to see how the servers handle the load.

It would also be great if the developers could make a lighting pass soon to help reduce/eliminate the occasional lighting flickering inside buildings and underground areas, which is especially noticeable if you are standing close to an entrance. The lighting transition from one location to another can be a horrible experience as the flickering can be hard on the eyes.

More on Sound Design and Graphics

I discussed the music and sound design in my initial impressions and am bringing it up again. I love the environmental music, it’s great. I sit back and relax while exploring the world of Terminus. The more I have played Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, the more I enjoy it. But it does need some further refinement and bug fixes.

The environmental music can cut out abruptly at times for no discernable reason. Sound effects, especially in combat, can sometimes not execute. Occasionally, the background music track can continue to play while in combat. But it does sound very tranquil while I am beating enemy thugs to death as a Monk.

My overall opinion of the current graphics has not improved much from my initial impressions. Still, I have caught myself looking out over a few environments while exploring and thinking that it shows potential. For example, the shimmering light off the water around the human Shaman starting area looks decent at night.

The Classes

At this point, I have played most of the available classes up to level 6 and two classes, Dire Lord and Summoner, beyond level 10. I am nowhere near reaching the current cap of level 40 due to the slow rate of progression, but I will expand on that later. Most classes feel good when playing, though I  can see how some players may find certain classes, like the Warrior and Cleric, boring due to the limited amount of skills and their low damage potential out of the gate. 

However, each class has a distinct role and unique class mechanic to fill in a group. Unfortunately, some classes can take until level 10 or higher before they become more engaging to play. I found that Dire Lord, while more enjoyable than Warrior or Paladin during the early levels, didn’t start to really hit its stride until level 10, when I unlocked a utility ability that allowed me to drain life with every weapon attack for a short time. Another downside is that some unique class mechanics are not fully implemented or need further iteration.

While some classes overlap in their role, their gameplay differs enough that they don’t feel like a cookie-cutter copy of each other with a few extra abilities bolted on. For example, mechanically, I would pick a Cleric if I wanted to focus on being the best healer.  But by doing so, soloing is going to be rough unless I am fighting undead and can use anti-undead spells. On the plus side, groups are always looking for a Cleric as their main healer. They also feel great when just focusing on the healing role.

Related:

Interview: Talking Pantheon: RotF Early Access Launch With Creative Director Chris Perkins

On the other hand, while a Shaman is also slow to level solo, they are faster than a Cleric. They also have more tools to survive solo, have great group buffs, and can fill the role of a healer in most situations. Plus, who doesn’t want a wolf pet starting at level 10?   

I love that Visionary Realms has also brought the support role back as the fourth pillar in a group. Watching enchanters in various situations transform the chaos of a bad pull into something manageable is a thing of beauty that I sorely missed from being included in most other modern MMOs.

Having the entire class roster available and fully fleshed out to play is another area that would have added significantly to the initial experience of Early Access. All the currently available classes in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Early Access are playable, but some feel more enjoyable than others. Wizards, for example, feel more complete when compared to most of the other classes at this point, with their spell focus class mechanic adding to the gameplay by enhancing spell damage and adding an extra element of danger to manage as a player always needs to be aware overcasting one element or risk taking a lot of damage in the middle of a fight. 

Currently, most classes feel between 50% and 80% finished, not including the final polish/balance passes. Some classes, like the Monk, only have skill scrolls available up to level 24, and others, like the Enchanter, are missing important and iconic ability lines like the Charm spell. While the initial implementation of Druid and Bard is also missing, they will hopefully arrive sometime in 2025.

Combat

The combat gameplay loop of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is likely where most players will bounce off the game quickly if the current state of the graphics hasn't already turned them away. Killing enemies is slow. From levels 1 to 5, you can down them in a reasonable amount of time, but once you ding to 5th level, even soloing can feel like a grind, especially if you are playing a class that doesn't output much damage, like Clerics and Enchanters.

I also like using the C key to consider an enemy before I attack it; it makes me take a moment to think about the fight without the game just telling me what an enemy’s exact level is. But I can see many other players not wanting to bother with that extra step.

The hotbars in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen are currently separated into three sections. The lower bar 1 to 8 slots are combat abilities, slots A+1 to A+4 are for technique abilities, and slots S+1 to S+6 are for utility abilities. Utility abilities include duration buffs that range from X seconds to 45 minutes, depending on the class. They can enhance anything from states to spell-casting speed. 

In most solo gameplay, players mainly use combat abilities to take down their enemies; they are the typical abilities most MMORPG players are familiar with using during a fight. Techniques include abilities for when you are out of mana/resources and have nothing else to throw at the enemy, opportunity openers, and opportunity closers.

Group combat is where things really pick up in pace, and it starts to feel like everything is coming together. With a full group, pulling enemies is nearly constant. Depending on luck, respawns, and rare enemies, it can get hectic as support and/or the off-tank have to keep extra enemies locked down. I have had a lot of fun with grouping so far.

I will admit that it has taken a while to get used to groups having six people again, but once I did and we started to work an encampment of enemies, it felt at times like doing mini-raid content in other games but on an even smaller scale. The one downside with grouping I have noticed is that the experience from each enemy defeated seems less when compared to soloing. But your team is downing them so much faster without the need to rest as often that you are ultimately leveling faster.

Another great element of group play is that melee characters can use opportunity openers to "Open Gap" for spellcasters to use opportunity closers during a limited time window. The closer abilities usually result in a spellcasting class being able to do damage and place a debuff on the target for up to 2 minutes. Spellcasters can use similar techniques that cause a target to be "Exposed", which melee classes can take advantage of with their opportunity closer techniques. I found it to be a fun tactical choice in the moment-to-moment gameplay. Do I want just to continue nuking down the enemy with summoner and pet special attacks or spend some of my mana on debuffs when a melee party member executes an opener? While other MMOs have implemented similar mechanics over the years, it feels more impactful to the gameplay so far in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen.       

Due to how long combat against a single enemy can take, even when soloing, many players may feel that enemies are health sponges, and they are. Because Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is inspired by classic MMOs, single mobs are, by design, meant to take a long time to kill and have a lot of health. The design pushes players to use more of their class kit to overcome enemies and prepares them for group play. Once you are in a party and fighting enemies that are considered to be a group challenge, more brutal fights can take a long time and drain most of the group's resources. But you should constantly be engaged during these fights and making tactical decisions.

It feels great to down a named enemy by scraping whatever you have left to finish off those last few percent of health. The only times I have felt that thrill in other MMOs is during endgame fights/raids. Even the simple act of first aiding a group member while I was out of mana, as they crawled around about to die while the healers were out of mana, made me feel helpful during a rough fight.

Progression and Death

The third area that will drive away many players is the current state of progression and death penalties in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Because the game is inspired by classic MMOs, level advancement is slow. While I expect it to improve somewhat as Early Access continues, I don't expect it to change drastically. Now, I may have rose-colored glasses on, but it currently feels even slower than EverQuest was at release once you hit level 5 and up. I also struggled a few times during levels 6 to 9 due to multiple deaths and some rotten luck while exploring the Thronefast zone for new areas to hunt in. There were two nights when I had to step away from the game because my progress was literally going backward.

Soloing in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is viable, but it can be more of a hurdle and slower for some classes. There is also the issue of missing content. While Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen did launch into Early Access with six zones to explore, areas within each zone are not yet fully populated with appropriate level enemies to properly support solo and group play. This is especially true the more busy the server is as hunting locations are shared, and popular spots can quickly become overcamped by players. The missing content becomes more noticeable as a player reaches higher levels. However, the patch released on January 14th has already started to add more solo and group content for levels 15 to 20 in Avendyr's Pass.

Here is the crux of the third issue that will likely drive many potential players away: a player is penalized three times after they hit level 5 each time they die. First, having to respawn at a binding stone and then make their way back to a corpse, likely having to deal with respawning enemies along the way unless they have someone near the original location to raise them from the dead. Then, the player or group must reset for another attempt by rebuffing and using consumables.

Second, corpses need to be recovered or summoned to loot any items not worn. Typically, corpse recovery is not too bad of an issue. Third, you lose experience, which could mean you lose a recently gained level and the new abilities for that level. All of this adds up to more lost time. This is a rough example of a typical single death/corpse run. I also didn’t include item durability loss, as the system has not yet been implemented.

At level 5 and beyond, a single corpse run and subsequent recovery of lost experience could take anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to get back to par without a character who can resurrect for partial experience recovery. Then there are situations (hopefully rare) where you start chaining deaths due to bad luck and can lose a day or more of progress. If you are someone who only plays casually for an hour a night, you could quickly lose a week of progress.

For me, where I play quite a lot and keep in mind that this is an alpha state, I enjoy the pace of leveling. I get to spend more time learning the various ins and outs of playing my class at each level, and while I do strive to reach higher levels, I enjoy the journey to get there more. It doesn't feel like I am constantly rushing to max out my character to start playing the "real" game. I get to immerse myself in the world and meet other people interested in chatting while adventuring through a goblin cave or a manor infested by undead.

But there is a reason why modern games have done away with experience penalties for the most part. The death penalty in its original form is not fun, and I know from personal experience that it caused many veteran EverQuest players to quit the game or to take extended breaks. In Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, it feels even worse when some of your deaths are due to bugs or the game being over-tuned in some areas.

I hope Visionary Realms will implement some changes as Early Access continues. I have read that players will eventually have a Soul Memory effect when they die, which will help them recover lost experience in the form of an experience bonus when killing enemies. EverQuest 2 tried something adjacent at release to iterate on using an experience death penalty by having players run back to their gravestone as a spirit and recover most of the lost experience.

I would like to see Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen iterate on the systems for dying soon and in more interesting ways. I am not necessarily advocating entirely removing or simply reducing the penalties for dying, as they were a part of classic MMORPGs. There is also a certain charm to having a higher sense of risk in certain situations. But, finding new ways to make these older systems engaging and modern could lead to a much more enjoyable gameplay experience for a wider audience.

Even an experience debt penalty, rather than an outright experience loss, would prevent a player from losing a recently gained level is a good first step. Deleveling is one of the worst feelings in any game. Removing experience loss when adventuring outside of dangerous areas such as dungeons could also go a long way in promoting exploration of the game world.

Right now, it feels like the game punishes me often and severely when I try to explore the world or take risks. My first experience in the second zone of Avendyr's Pass was to die three times in quick succession. Twice to group mobs and then to a wandering high level NPC. So, I went back into my safe space until I watched a video about someone else's successful experience in Avendyr's Pass. It wasn't worth risking an hour or more of my life doing it myself and then having to regain any lost experience just to figure out where I could solo bears.

Final Overall Thoughts

Despite all the issues and basic systems, I have enjoyed my time in Terminus. Over the holidays, I ground out levels on various characters well into the early morning hours, and I am already struggling to keep my gaming in check now that I am back at work.

I didn't realize how much I missed a slower style of game where the social ties between players mattered more. Grouping with others has been a great experience every time so far, and every group I have joined has been welcoming. Even though I have only made it into my teens with two characters, every level has felt like an accomplishment. 

It has been sometimes frustrating due to random deaths and bugs. When exploring new areas, I am also now very cautious, and it’s entirely possible that the death experience penalty will eventually cause me to take an extended break or quit altogether.

If the early access server population is any indication, there is a demand for this style of gameplay to be revived, at least for MMORPG veterans. But is it a large enough audience to sustain it long-term? Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has Very Positive overall reviews on Steam. But between the disappointing graphics, missing/unimplemented systems, and the current death mechanics, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is currently missing the connective tissue that could make it a more enjoyable experience for many players.

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, in the current Alpha state, is not a game for most modern gamers, and you may wish to check back in after another six months to a year once it's closer to a Beta state. This could be a good option for veterans of classic MMORPGs and players who want to experience this kind of game for the first time. But keep in mind that it’s an incomplete experience.  

On the plus side, if Visionary Realms follows the road before them and implements the various proposed systems and improvements well in the coming months, the only way to go from here is up. While I still expect it to be a long journey to a full release, it's looking more like we may end up with a good, if not great, game by the end of it.